While much of the focus of suicide prevention has been on those diagnosed with a mental illness, around 80 per cent of male suicides are not linked to any mental health diagnosis according to Glen Poole, Development Officer at the Australian Men’s Health Forum and founder of the Stop Male Suicide project.

Instead many men are simply struggling to deal with different types of life crises including relationship breakdown, work issues, financial stress, health and other issues.

He believes the key is to focus on helping men to deal with those life crises.

Gotcha4Life co-founder Gus Worland agreed and said having someone to talk to when times got tough, had helped him to manage stressful or emotional situations in the past.

“You’ve got to have someone in your life that you can talk to, warts and all,” he said. “Someone you can have a discussion with about anything and know that you won’t be judged. That person may not have an answer but you will have their heart and their ear, and it will allow you to get stuff off your chest.”

Everyone needs someone they can talk to when the unexpected happens.Source:istock

Mr Worland and his friend Gareth Pike co-founded Gotcha4Life to encourage men to identify those people in their lives who they could have deeper conversations with.

“We can all be surrounded by mates, they can be close mates or just ones you hang out at the footy with. But it’s unusual to have someone you can properly confide in,” Mr Pike said.

“The first step is identifying whether that person is someone you should have in your life. Then decide who among your friends can be that person, because it’s not everybody.

“If you don’t have someone like that in your group of friends, maybe you need to find one.”

Movember mental health and suicide prevention mental lead Dr Nic Vogelpoel said its programs also focused on improving social connections as well as developing programs like their SpeakEasy events where men gather together to have “open, honest and real conversations”, as well reaching young boys through sports.

While it was easy to say that pressures to “act like a man” or to be stoic, discouraged men from talking about their problems, Dr Vogelpoel said there many different factors that could impact how men felt about themselves.

“Feeling to pressure to ‘be a man’ is just one part of who we are as men, there are many other pressures,” he said.

“Transitional points often come earlier now and they can cause stress and burden. As we get older our social networks change and we can struggle to keep our friendships.

“We change jobs more often and for some people this can be positive but for others it’s not. We move a lot more than before … and the pressures of fatherhood are really burdensome for some.”

Dr Vogelpoel said talking could help some because it forced people to articulate their thoughts and feelings.

“For some it’s a good way to understand where they’re at and what to do next. You can listen to the way you’re describing yourself to people in your life.”

This process can help men to find the language to describe exactly how they are feeling.

“While learning how to have the conversation, we can also learn how to be a good mate and a good listener, and to receive those same messages and calls from your friends.”

The popular radio host opened up about his use of marijuana and alcohol, and battles with mental health. Hughesy, now 47, said not really knowing what he wanted to do in his life led to the drug use and battle with mental health during his formative years.

Hughesy with his and Kate — @hughesyandkate Picture: InstagramSource:Instagram

Something is very wrong with Australian men. And today, six blokes across the country will take their own lives as a result. Despite campaigns aimed at men’s mental health and enormous efforts to reduce the stigma attached to suicide, there’s still something holding Aussie blokes back from reaching out. And the outcomes of that are alarming.

Finally, we have an admission that not all suicides are a result of mental illness. For many years Men’s Rights Agency has attempted to convince the politicians that the introduction of legislation and government sponsored campaigns dealing with family law, domestic violence and child support payments has had a dramatic effect on the standing of men and particularly fathers and their importance in their children’s lives. Remove their reason for living apart from their usefulness in providing financial support for their children then you risk taking away the very meaning and purpose for their lives. No wonder men’s suicide levels are high, not to mention the number of single vehicle accidents that are suspected to be intentional, though not listed in the suicide stats. Reports generated since 1998 have shown up to 70 percent of suicides were preceded by a family separation
The denigration of men has reached crisis level and the war on men must stop. Just think how many or your son’s, fathers, uncles, brothers and partners have been pushed over the edge by the aggressiveness of the Child Support Agency; the uncaring, agenda focused report writers only too willing to recommend fathers become casual visitors in their children’s lives; family court judges who order fathers to see their children in the presence of a supervisor, based on the unsubstantiated claims of mothers; and finally the vicious campaigns based on exaggerated statistics and outright lies launched against men who are now regarded as violent perpetrators against helpless victim women.
Yes, some women and some men are victims of abuse from the opposite and same sex, but all men should not be put into the same category, neither should the violence committed by women against men and children be ignored.
Men’s suicides can be dramatically reduced if laws and policies are introduced to ensure both men and women are treated as equally important in their children’s lives and we stop the scaremongering associated with domestic violence. Then some sanity may return and certainly funds required to protect those really in need would be available instead of being wasted on innumerable false allegations.